Developing sector leaders programme Guidance for applicants€¦ · Mandatory conversations...
Transcript of Developing sector leaders programme Guidance for applicants€¦ · Mandatory conversations...
Developing sector leaders programme
Guidance for applicants
Below is an outline summary of key information. Please see Section three for full
eligibility criteria.
Summary of key information
What is the focus of the fund? To provide a range of leadership and
governance development activities that
are relevant to the arts and cultural
sector’s needs and attractive to a
diverse range of leaders. This fund will
support the long term aim of an
increasingly diverse leadership that
reflects the diversity of society as a
whole.
What type of applicant is this fund
for?
Leadership and governance
development organisations with a
strong track record (over three years of
successful delivery of professional
development activities) in the cultural
sector. Applicants must be able to reach
nationally across libraries, museums
and arts organisations and be compliant
with all relevant governance reporting
and accountability requirements.
Our understanding of a leadership and
governance development organisation
with a strong track record is one which
has a successful track record of over
three years in developing individuals
across the cultural sector nationally,
evidenced by evaluation reports.
Who cannot apply?
Applicants are not eligible to apply if:
they are an organisation based
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outside of England
they are an individual
they have submitted another
application to this programme
they have not had a mandatory
conversation with an Arts Council
England Senior Relationship
Manager
they are a National portfolio
organisation or Major partner
museum
their primary focus is not
leadership and governance
development
When is the deadline for
applications?
12pm (midday) on 27 August 2015
How much can be applied for per
application?
Up to £1.5 million
Applicants can apply for flexible
amounts across financial years however
please note that we would expect
broadly comparable delivery and
therefore spend across each of the
three years
When must the activity take place? Activities must start no earlier than 1
January 2016 and must end no later
than 30 September 2019
Activities must include three full years of
delivery across the 2016-2019 funding
period
Minimum match funding from other
sources
10 per cent of total cash project budget.
This must be cash income.
When will we make our decision? We will aim to notify applicants of our
decision no later than the end of
November 2016
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Contents
Section one – introduction ................................................................ 4
Welcome ............................................................................................................. 4
About Arts Council England ............................................................................. 4
About Arts Council England’s strategic funds 2015-18 .................................. 5
Section two – purpose of the Developing sector leaders
programme ......................................................................................... 6
Aims and outcomes ........................................................................................... 6
How much funding is available? ....................................................................... 7
Section three – eligibility .................................................................. 7
Consortia and partnership agreements ........................................................... 9
Section four – what you will be expected to deliver ...................... 11
Section five – experience needed to deliver against the fund’s
aims .................................................................................................. 13
Section six – how to apply .............................................................. 15
Talking to us about your application – the ‘mandatory conversation’ ........ 15
Making an application ...................................................................................... 15
When to apply ................................................................................................... 15
Application process ......................................................................................... 15
Assistance with your application .................................................................... 18
After you submit your application .................................................................. 19
Section seven – how we will make our decision ............................ 20
Section nine – Freedom of Information Act .................................... 23
Contact us ........................................................................................ 23
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Section one – introduction
Welcome
Thank you for your interest in the Developing sector leaders programme.
This guidance gives you information on how to apply for funding to the Developing
sector leaders programme, in order to deliver a programme of activities that aims
to support the professional development of cultural leaders at all levels.
An increasing range of leadership training is already accessible to people working
and volunteering in the cultural sector, but this is an opportunity to deliver
something distinctive and sector-specific.
Over the next three years, we want to support a national programme that identifies
and engages with existing, potential and emerging leaders in museums, libraries,
Music education hubs and the arts sector. We expect the programme to do this in
a range of ways to develop a talented leadership cohort that closely reflects the
diversity of society as a whole. We want to support existing leaders to be able to
respond effectively to the challenges and opportunities they will face in the
medium term (5-7 years) and we recognise they may benefit from borrowing
expertise from other sectors and from international best practice.
We recognise the challenges boards face and would like to provide tailored, sector
specific strategic support to a range of boards and board members to increase
understanding of the role of the board and how it is delivered effectively.
Overall the programme will support the long-term aim that leadership and
governance of the sector will reflect society as a whole. It will also develop a
leadership culture able to identify and respond to challenges and to seize
opportunities in order to continue to make and deliver great art and culture.
About Arts Council England
Arts Council England champions, develops and invests in artistic and cultural
experiences that enrich people’s lives. We support a range of activities across the
arts, museums and libraries – from theatre to digital art, reading to dance, music to
literature, and crafts to collections.
Great art and culture inspires us, brings us together and teaches us about
ourselves and the world around us. In short, it makes life better. Between 2015
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and 2018, we plan to invest £1.1 billion of public money from government and an
estimated £700 million from the National Lottery to help create these experiences
for as many people as possible across the country.
On behalf of the Department for Education, we are investing over £75 million
between 2015 and 2016 in a network of 123 Music education hubs across
England.
For more information about the Arts Council visit www.artscouncil.org.uk
About Arts Council England’s strategic funds 2015-18
Our Strategic funds help us to target particular challenges, opportunities or gaps,
creating the environment for further development to take place in the arts and
culture sector. Ultimately, they help us meet the goals set out in our strategy,
Great art and culture for everyone. Our goals, for reference, are as follows:
Goal 1: Excellence is thriving and celebrated in the arts, museums and
libraries
Goal 2: Everyone has the opportunity to experience and be inspired by the
arts, museums and libraries
Goal 3: The arts, museums and libraries are resilient and environmentally
sustainable
Goal 4: The leadership and workforce in the arts, museums and libraries
are diverse and appropriately skilled
Goal 5: Every child and young person has the opportunity to experience the
richness of the arts, museums and libraries
All of these goals are important, but the Developing sector leaders programme will
prioritise applications that respond to Goal 3 and Goal 4.
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Section two – purpose of the Developing sector leaders
programme
Aims and outcomes
The organisations that make the greatest contribution to Arts Council England’s
goals are well-led and understand their role in the community. They also draw on
the skills, creativity and experience of a workforce and leadership from diverse
backgrounds. We believe more needs to be done to develop the diversity in
leadership and governance of the cultural sector. We will work with the successful
applicant to identify specific targets on increasing diversity through this
programme.
We also believe that there are strong links between effective governance and
strong executive leadership. This programme will cover development in both those
functions.
There is a great deal that we believe leaders at all levels can learn from working
with their peers within the sector, across libraries, museums and arts, and
potentially with peers across other areas or internationally.
In order to achieve the greatest impact through this programme we welcome
consortia applications that show how partners can achieve the outcomes of
increasing the diversity of the talent pool of potential, emerging and existing
leaders and strengthening leadership and governance across the sector.
The central aims of the fund are:
identifying and developing a cohort or annual cohorts of emerging and
potential leaders that reflect society as a whole
identifying and increasing the skills and competencies that these future
leaders will need
engaging with the existing leadership community to identify and support
ongoing professional development needs, including increasing
understanding of the role of the Creative case for diversity
supporting and developing strong, diverse governance across the sector
with a focus on the challenges faced by organisations within the National
portfolio, Major partner museum and Music education hub portfolios or
otherwise funded by Arts Council England
increasing understanding across Arts Council England and the sector of
resilient, diverse leadership
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How much funding is available?
A total budget of up to £1.5 million is available for the funding period 2016-19.
Applicants can apply for flexible amounts across the three years however please
note that we would expect broadly comparable delivery and therefore spend
across each of the three years.
Activities should be for the three year funding period 2016-19 but we recognise
that preparation and planning will be required and that an annual programme may
not run concurrently with the financial year. Activities may therefore start on, or
after, 1 January 2016 and may run up to 30 September 2019.
Geographical focus
The Arts Council intends to ensure that a minimum of 75% of all Lottery funding is
spent outside London. For this fund we welcome applications from organisations in
England; funded activity should reach individuals and organisations across all
areas of England.
Section three – eligibility
Please read the eligibility requirements for the fund carefully. If you do not meet
any of these requirements we will be unable to consider your application for
funding.
Who can apply?
Before applying, the lead applicant must have a
mandatory conversation with an Arts Council
England Senior Relationship Manager in the area
where they are based.
Mandatory conversations
Applicants must meet all of the criteria below:
- organisations must have a primary focus on
leadership and governance development
- organisations must have a strong track
record (over three years of successful
delivery of professional development
activities with supporting evaluation) in the
cultural sector
- organisations must demonstrate national
reach across libraries, museums and arts
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organisations
- organisations must show compliance with all
relevant governance reporting and
accountability requirements
We will also accept applications from consortia. In
this case the following eligibility criteria apply:
- consortia formed of all types of organisations
(including local authorities, museums,
libraries, Music education hubs, non-arts and
commercial organisations and individual
artists) are eligible but the named lead
applicant must be an organisation as defined
above
- lead applicants must have a track record of at
least three years of delivering professional
development activities
- lead applicants must have a track record in
income generation from a variety of sources
- the lead applicant can only submit one
application to this programme.
Who cannot apply?
Organisations are not eligible to apply if:
they are an organisation based outside of
England
they are an individual
they have submitted another application to
this programme
they are a National portfolio organisation or
Major partner museum
they have not had a mandatory conversation
with an Arts Council England Senior
Relationship Manager
organisations who distribute profits (we
cannot give grants to organisations that
share out profits to members or
shareholders; unless the activity applied for is
a self-contained, financially ring-fenced
project with a clear benefit to the arts and
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cultural sector. No grant funds can contribute
to an organisation’s profits. Applicants should
also ensure they comply with current
regulations on state aid)
What activity cannot be
funded?
activities that are not related to the arts
activities that do not benefit or engage people
in England (in the short or long term) or that
do not help artists and arts organisations in
England to carry out their work
activities (including buying goods or services)
that have started, been bought, ordered or
contracted before we make a decision about
your application as we cannot fund activity
retrospectively
costs that are already paid for by other income
including your own funds or any other funding
activities that do not include three full years of
delivery across the 2016-2019 funding period
How much can be applied
for per application?
Up to £1.5 million in total
Applicants can apply for flexible amounts across
financial years however please note that we would
expect broadly comparable delivery and therefore
spend across each of the three years.
How much match funding
from sources other than
ACE is required?
10 per cent of the total cash cost of the
activity must come from sources other than
the Arts Council.
Delivery timetable Activities must start no earlier than 1 January 2016
and must end no later than 30 September 2019
Consortia and partnership agreements
We will accept applications for funding from organisations working as a
consortium. One organisation must act as the lead organisation and submit the
application.
All partners within the consortium must show a firm commitment to joint working.
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Your application must show the benefits and rationale of working as a consortium.
If we decide to fund your project we will enter into a legally binding grant agreement
with the lead organisation. This organisation must accept our terms and conditions
of grant and will be solely accountable to us for all monitoring information, how all
the money is spent and for the full and successful delivery of the project.
One of our standard terms and conditions of grant is that the organisation we enter
into a grant agreement with cannot subcontract any of the project to other
organisations without our prior agreement in writing. So if we award a grant, before
the project can start, we must approve a partnership agreement between the lead
organisation and the other partners involved in the project.
There is further guidance about Partnership agreements on our website.
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Section four – what you will be expected to deliver
We welcome applications that will make a contribution to achieving the aims and
outcomes outlined in Section two above.
While we are not prescriptive about the types of activities we would like to fund in
order to meet the aims of this fund, we anticipate that the types of activities we will
fund could include the following:
residential and non-residential leadership training programmes
coaching
board development programmes
digital learning and development resources for leadership and governance
development
secondment opportunities within and outside the sector
international visits
access support costs to ensure the programmes are relevant to and
available to a range of participants
bursaries or other measures to ensure the programmes are attractive and
accessible to participants from all socio-economic backgrounds
independent external evaluation
The delivery of this programme should benefit leaders of arts and cultural
organisations including: National portfolio organisations, museums, libraries, Music
education hubs and diverse leaders of arts and cultural organisations which are
not currently in the national portfolio. We expect the proposed programme of
activity to meet some, or all, of the following objectives:
over three years, to provide development opportunities for potential and
emerging diverse leaders and leaders of diverse arts and cultural
organisations to ensure the sector, at all levels, is increasingly reflective of
society
to provide opportunities that suit the organisational and personal capacity of
leaders from small organisations, including freelancers and sole traders
to provide opportunities that suit the organisational and personal capacity of
leaders from across England
to increase the number of leaders actively collaborating in peer support
networks to share their knowledge and skills
over three years to increase the number of leaders articulating and
delivering a contribution to the Creative Case for diversity through their
business plans
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to improve the sector’s understanding of the long-term impact of leadership
investment on individual careers and organisational resilience through a
related programme of independent evaluation
for our investment to be used to leverage income from other sources to
ensure cultural leadership is supported by other partners and mainstream
initiatives
for the National portfolio, Major partner museum and Music education hub
portfolios to have a better understanding of what good governance looks
like and how to achieve it
to increase the diversity (across age, gender, disability and ethnic
background) of board membership across the National portfolio, Major
partner museum and Music education hub portfolios by the end of the
programme
investment should enable a range of different leadership styles
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Section five – experience needed to deliver against the fund’s
aims
Successful applicants must be able to demonstrate that they have the skills and
capacity to deliver the proposed programme. They must show that they have
appropriate governance arrangements in place, including relating to how partners
are engaged.
Key skills/experience required for delivery against this fund’s aims include:
a track record of delivering leadership development programmes that have
led to successful professional and personal outcomes
a track record of delivering leadership development programmes that have
led to successful outcomes for Black and minority ethnic and disabled
leaders (this experience could be demonstrated by the main applicant, or
alternatively by providing evidence of arrangements/specialist partnerships
which will strengthen delivery of this aspect)
an understanding of current leadership development methodologies
a demonstrable understanding, knowledge and experience of working with
the cultural sector including arts, museums and libraries
a track record of delivering leadership and governance programmes
nationally
a track record of delivering governance development programmes for the
cultural sector
a demonstrable understanding of governance issues within the cultural
sector and those specific to the National portfolio, Major partner museum
and Music education hub portfolios
provision of appropriately skilled staff to manage projects, and sufficient
resources and capacity to meet any increase in demand during the project
term
management of an annual budget of a similar value to this grant
well-established financial management and reporting systems in place,
including a procurement policy that matches public sector best practice
rigorous project management and quality assurance systems and
procedures in place that have been proven on previous projects
recruitment, training and management of a pool of freelance training
professionals, if relevant
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To be eligible to apply to this programme the lead applicant must be properly
constituted as an organisation and be able to make available copies of their
governance documentation. This includes:
limited companies registered at Companies House
community interest companies (CIC) registered with the CIC regulator
charities or trusts registered with the Charity Commission
limited liability partnerships registered at Companies House
partnerships established under a Deed of Partnership
industrial and provident societies or community benefit societies subject
to regulation by the Financial Services Authority (FSA)
Royal Charter companies
statutory bodies
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Section six – how to apply
Talking to us about your application – the ‘mandatory conversation’
Once you have read the guidance and started to think about your application, you
must speak with an Arts Council England Senior Relationship Manager in the area
where you are based about your proposal in detail. We use the term 'mandatory
conversation' to describe this scheduled, structured conversation, which often
takes place by telephone. You must have this mandatory conversation before
submitting your application to the Developing sector leaders programme. Please
contact our Customer Services team to find out more about this.
We will arrange a time to speak with you. As a general guide, we would aim to
cover the following points:
your organisational focus on leadership and governance development
your track record in the cultural sector
your understanding of and track record supporting the leadership
development needs of diverse leaders
Once you have had this conversation with the designated member of staff, we will
send you an email to confirm that the mandatory conversation has been
completed. You can then submit your application at any time, uploading a copy of
the email we have sent you as supporting information (see the Attachments
section of the online application form for instructions on where to do this).
We will not be able to read or provide written comment on, draft applications
It is your responsibility to develop and write the application, including what you feel
to be all the relevant information. We will talk with all potential applicants but
cannot guarantee success for any applicant.
Making an application
When to apply
The online application form will open on Thursday 16 July 2015. Applications
must be submitted by 12pm (midday) on Thursday 27 August 2015.
Applications submitted after this time will not be considered.
Application process
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1. Read this guidance carefully and contact us
This guidance gives you information on how to apply and answers some
common questions. If you have any further questions you can contact our
Customer Services team at [email protected]
2. Prepare your application
You must apply through our online application portal using the Standard
application form:
i. Once you have logged in (or created a new user account if you have
not used the online portal before) you will see the welcome screen.
On this screen, select ‘Standard application’ from the dropdown list:
ii. When you press ‘Start Application’, you will be taken to the Eligibility
Check section where you should select the name of this fund from
the dropdown list:
iii. When you have completed the eligibility check you will be taken to
the full application form which includes questions about you (or your
organisation) and the activity you are applying for, and a section
called ‘Response to the brief’ which gives you space to provide a full
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proposal for your activity. There is
also a section where you can upload
the mandatory attachments and any
other supporting information:
iv. Proposal
The proposal can be a maximum of 9,000 words, divided into three
sections: ‘Meeting the brief’ (3,000 words), ‘Governance and
management of activity’ (3,000 words) and ‘Financial viability’ (3,000
words). You do not need to use the full word count if you do not feel it
is necessary. Use the criteria/prompts in Section seven of this
guidance to help you structure your proposal.
v. Attachments
You must upload the following mandatory attachments on the
‘Attachments’ screen:
Detailed budget
A detailed budget for the activity showing proposed
income and expenditure (as an Excel sheet or
similar). Please include a budget for each year of
activity, including the amount that you are
applying for per year. Applicants can apply for
up to £1.5 million in total. Please note that
applicants can apply for flexible amounts across
financial years however please note that we
would expect broadly comparable delivery and
therefore spend across each of the three years.
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Work plan A work plan for proposed project, including
milestones and key review dates
Mandatory
conversation email
The email we sent confirming that you had a
mandatory conversation with an Arts Council
England Senior Relationship Manager
Financial statements Financial statements for your previous financial
year, prepared to the relevant legal standard for an
organisation of your size and status
Management accounts Your latest management accounts
Governance
documents
Your governance documents
List of partner
organisations with
contact details
If applying as a consortium/in partnership with other
organisations, a list of all partner organisations in
the consortium giving their organisation names,
address information and details of a main contact
person
You may also upload the following optional attachments
Up to three other relevant attachments. These must
each be a maximum of five pages in length
The combined limit on file size for all the attachments taken together
is 10 megabytes.
We will use the information you give us in your application form and any
attachments to decide whether your application is eligible and whether we will offer
you a grant. If your application does not contain the information we need in the
format we ask for it to be in, we might not be able to consider your application.
After you have read this guidance, if you have any further questions please contact
us.
Assistance with your application
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We are committed to being open and accessible, and want to make the
Developing sector leaders application process accessible to everyone.
If you experience any barriers within the application process or require help to
make an application, our enquiries team can be contacted by:
telephone on: 0845 300 6200
text phone: +44(0) 161 934 4428
email: [email protected]
After you submit your application
You will receive an acknowledgement email confirming that we have received your
application. This will be sent to the email address that you used to log into the
portal. The email will include a PDF copy of your application for your reference.
We will conduct an eligibility check within 10 working days of the deadline for
applications. If your application is not eligible, this means that we cannot process it
any further and it will not be considered for funding. If your application is not
eligible we will write to you to let you know, and will explain our decision.
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Section seven – how we will make our decision
We will aim to notify applicants of our decision no later than the end of November
2015.
We will check your application to ensure that you have provided all the information
we have requested.
We will make our decision based on the information you provide in your
application, any further information that we request and, where relevant, data and
information from the Charity Commission and Companies House websites relating
to your constitution and financial statements from the past two years.
Each criterion (‘Meeting the brief’, ‘Governance and management of the activity’,
and ‘Financial viability’) will be assessed using a five-point word scoring:
Not met
The application does not meet the criteria
Potential
The application does not meet the criteria but shows potential to do so
Met
The application meets the criteria
Met (strong)
The application meets the criteria and shows strong qualities
Met (outstanding)
The application meets the criteria and shows outstanding qualities
On the basis of these ratings we will recommend whether an application is suitable
for funding. Applications that do not achieve at least 'met’ under all three criteria
will not be recommended for funding.
We will assess each application against the following criteria, using the
assessment prompts below:
Criteria
Meeting the brief
Weighting: 50 per cent
Word count: up to 3,000 words
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clear and convincing plans to deliver on the fund’s aims and outcomes and
achieve all the objectives outlined in what you will be expected to deliver, as
described in this guidance
details of any research or evidence used to inform the proposal
detail on the outputs of the proposed programme and the proposed outcomes
for participants
relevant milestones and measure of success at appropriate review points within
the programme delivery
appropriate partners with clear roles and responsibilities
robust plans for resourcing the activity effectively
activity that builds on and does not duplicate activity funded by other Arts
Council grants
how evaluation will be embedded within the programme and used to reflect on
progress and increase the achievements of the programme
Management of the activity
Weighting: 25 per cent
Word count: up to 3,000 words
feasibility of workplan
relevant milestones and measure of success at appropriate review points within
the programme delivery
demonstration of experience, skills and capacity to deliver the proposed
programme
strong strategic fit with the applicant’s other activity
appropriate governance arrangements in place and/or planned, including
relating to how partners are engaged
how an evaluation partner will be selected and what the scope of the evaluation
will be
Financial viability
Weighting: 25 per cent
Word count: up to 3,000 words
financial viability of the applicant and of the project
demonstration of appropriateness of proposed budget
evidence of organisational buy-in by applicant and project partners, as cash
investment and/or in-kind support
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clear case for any proposed capital expenditure
Decision-making
Once we have scored your application and a recommendation has been made
whether to fund it, we will make our decision. To do this we will consider how
strongly your activity scored against our criteria, and will also consider your activity
alongside other applications to the fund.
Complaints procedure
If you are not happy with the way we have dealt with your application, please
contact us and we will discuss this with you. If you are still unhappy, you can ask
us for a copy of our complaints procedure.
Details can be found in Making a complaint, which is available on our website,
www.artscouncil.org.uk, or by contacting our enquiries team by email to
[email protected] or by phoning 0845 300 6200.
Please note that you can only complain if you believe we have not followed our
published procedures when assessing your application. You cannot appeal against
the decision.
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Section nine – Freedom of Information Act
The Arts Council is committed to being as open as possible. We believe that the
public has a right to know how we spend public funds and how we make our
funding decisions.
We are also listed as a public authority under the Freedom of Information Act
2000. By law, we may have to provide your application documents and information
about our assessment to any member of the public who asks for them under the
Freedom of Information Act 2000.
We may not release those parts of the documents which are covered by one or
more of the exemptions under the Act. Please see the Freedom of Information
website at www.ico.gov.uk for information about freedom of information generally
and the exemptions.
We will not release any information about applications during the assessment
period, as this may interfere with the decision-making process.
Contact us
Arts Council England
The Hive
49 Lever Street
Manchester
M1 1FN
Website: www.artscouncil.org.uk
Phone: 0845 300 6200
Email: [email protected]
Textphone: +44(0) 161 934 4428